


Salt and pepper roses

by Insatiablyy_inc0gnit0266



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Oblivious Bokuto Koutarou, Pining Akaashi Keiji, Requited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:07:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21788743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insatiablyy_inc0gnit0266/pseuds/Insatiablyy_inc0gnit0266
Summary: "I just...need time to make sense of these feelings.""Akaashi." Kuroo urged. "Your feelings are a literal time bomb."
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	1. Warmth

**Author's Note:**

> Whoop Whoop!! First ever fic! Where do I find all the page dividers ??

**Salt and pepper roses**

"Akaaashi!" Bokuto grinned from cheek to cheek, expression full of unguarded admiration ( the earnesty of his expressions still somehow bewildered Akaashi), and the euphoria of a perfectly timed toss. 

"Yes, Bokuto-san", Akaashi's eyes quickly scanned over the withering forms of his fellow team members, where he met the hopefull eyes of one Konoha Akinori. 

Keji met his desperate gaze with his own determined nod, a routine exchange which lacked the necessity of verbal communication. A charged moment passed between the second and third years of the gym, but the objective was clear to every member present in the gymnasium. 

Every member that is- except for one particularly hyperactive owl. 

Akasshi steeled his resolve, fully prepared to enact his personally delegated task of ending practice. 'Bokuto-san is unusually energetic today.' He observed. His spikes, his receives, his mood swings, Bokuto was on fire, and not at all afraid to boast about it. 

"Hey, Hey, Hey!!!" "Didjya see that! I really am the best!!" Bokuto's earpiercing cries encouraged a wave monotone praises from his teammates. "Nice kill." "Of course, we expect nothing less from our ace." 

Days like this punched the air out of Keiji's lungs, watching Bokuto give his all in the sport, once again he was reminded, 'he's a star.'

The raven haired setter tore his eyes away from his ace and focused on the task at hand. 'I better wrap this up quickly before the first years collapse.' 

"Bokuto-san, I thin-" 

"Akasshhi!!" Bokuto boomed, yellow eyes dancing under the lights of the gym auditorium. "Toss to me forever!" 

Warmth- 

Oh.

Another half-hour wouldn't hurt.

And with that, Fukurodani's setter turned his back to the foreign feeling creeping inside his chest, and to the betrayed faces of his peers. "One more".

Sweat trickled down Keiji's brow as he made his way to the changing rooms. The sun just begun to set as the boys started cleaning up the gym. "Man that was rough, damn, Bokuto that last spike nearly tore off my arm." Komi grumbled, wiping his sweat soaked face with a towel. "Haha!!" "that's what happens when you go up against THE GREAT BOKUTO KOUTAROU!!" Bokuto beamed, throwing his fist in the air. Sweat was pouring down his face, binding the practice clothing to his muscular form. "Yeah, yeah, the great Bokuto it's time to hit the showers."

The majority of Fukurodani's team members had already left around the time the setter packed up his belongings to leave, he volunteered to do a bit of extra clean up, seeing as though he was semi responsible for the late practice. 

"Akaashi!" "Akaashi!" Akaashi paused halfway out of the gym door, turning towards the offending source of sound.

"Bokuto-san." The raven sighed, ready to reject the incoming practice request. Bokuto quickly approached the second year, the adrenaline fueled grin from earlier now replaced by a calm smile. His eyes sparkled with approval, and a rare hint of sobriety.

"I guess I just wanted to say"- Bokuto scratched the back of his head as he searched for the right words. " Your tosses were awesome today, I know your going to be a great captain next year." 

"Oh, thank you Bokuto-san." Akaashi croaked out, eyes wide. "I....I won't let you down." He nodded fiercely, which made the ace smile even harder.

"Good night Bokuto" The younger did a quick bow and made a hasty exit. 

The feeling of being directly praised by the ace was almost too much.

The scratchy feeling whelming in his throat was too much.

His thoughts replaying and analyzing the scene he all but ran from, was too much.

Later that night, Keiji's mother hovered around the dinner table. Her peaceful mood dropping in time with the temperature of her and Keiji's now Luke warm meal. Their first dinner together, in, who knows how long? After her sudden emergence of life threatening flowers that turned the Akaashi household upside down. "Keiji's not usually this late coming home...is he?" She twiddeld with her hands, (a nervous habit she begrudgingly passed onto her son), and wondered idly what was keeping her son. 

"Tadaima." Akaashi said softly, cautiously entering the living room. Yes, he was aware that he probably should have called his mother to inform her of his late practice. After all, walking home at this time of night was a first.The raven haired boy began to stretch his sore arms, he wasn't sure why he hadn't, and truth be told he wasn't exactly sure why he exerted himself in such a manner either.

Perhaps he was just over preparing for the practice match against Nekoma this weekend. Just picturing Kuroo's shit eating grin was enough to irk Akaashi into sly comments on the court, which he usually held more restraint. His brow twitched wondering what the oya-twins would have in store for him this upcoming weekend.He pushed the thoughts of the future aside as he greeted his mother at the dinning room table.

"Hello okaasan, sorry I'm late, I was practicing for an important weekend." He kept his explanation brief. Ms.Akaashi turned her gaze to her son, relief oozing from her stiff posture. "Okaeri Keiji, how was school?" She asked as her son joined her at the table. He was met with the sight of a their favorite dishes, it's been a while since he'd seen a warm meal at the table. But the dark haired boy let the thought fall from his mind, he really didn't want to go down that slippery slope. "School was good, how was your day?" He asked as they dug in.

Halfway through dinner Akaashi's phone lit up the quite table with a stream of notifications.

"Saw this, and thought of U. Hoot Hoot!! 

Hay!! Akaashiii! U should totally learn Kung Fu with me!!

R u ready to kick Kuroo's ass this weekend!!?

That invasive, warm feeling from earlier swarmed inside, ablaze with fresh fuel. He tried not overthink his emotions, which was no small feat for the raven haired male, akaashi at his heart was an analysts. Which proved to be a valuable asset not only on the court, but serving him well wherever a sharp mind and wit was needed.

'Naturally, friends are supposed to feel something for each other, and Bokuto-san just radiates a sort of warm energy'. That's just who Bokuto was, he shined. The young ace was gifted with a friendly charisma that enchanted anyone within it's reach, and hyped the loyal volleyball stans who came to see him in action. Akaashi continued to reason with himself, once content with his conclusion, he returned to his meal.

One problem, however, still remained. 

The offensive, constrictive feeling present in his throat, he wasn't entirely sure was related to his dinner. 


	2. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akaashi is confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got a little carried away with the dream lol I should have did a space au. Anyways enjoy : )

That night met Keiji with a feverish, beautiful- almost ethereal like dream. Luxurious voilets, decadent scarlets, and black so dense it felt as if it could crush you. Akaashi found himself leisurely strolling in a mystical garden, filled with the richest flowers he had ever seen. The majority of plant life being fictional, as he was sure sunflowers the size of great oaks did not exist on Earth.

And amongst the wonder of the garden, in all his magnificent glory stood Bokuto in the center.

He wore lose ancient robes made of cotton and silk, paired with golden jewelry which complimented the glow of his tan skin. Akaashi stood mesmerized, filtering the extravagant colors that bombarded his vision. He watched quietly as Bokuto plucked a giant rose head and expertly spiked it as if it were a volleyball.

"Akaashi." Bokuto turned around to greet him, as if he was waiting for him all this time. Akaashi's heart sped up to an unnatural pace, their eyes met and the older boy smiled, eyes shining like the morning sun. "I lov-"

Akaashi's eyes near popped out of his skull as he rose from his bed with an violent start. Iridescent hues began to swirl his vision, a symphony of sharp colors that split his head in two. He took in several short, agonized breaths as he stumbled out of bed. 

'It's ok Akaashi, breathe,' the raven attempted to calm himself. A calm mind is a rational mind, and right now he just needed to think. Which proved to be particularly challenging when he couldn't breathe. 'Its ok, you'll make to the bathroom in no time, just count down from ten.' The urge to hurl in the middle of the hallway as he made his way to bathroom was tempting, but in the back of Keiji's mind he knew that was just as bad of an idea as letting Bokuto design his wardrobe. 

The dark haired boy lurched the second he made it to the once elusive bathroom. Crouched on the floor, head stuck in the toilet, Akaashi sobbed as silky smooth- rose petals? Were expelled from his body. 

"Keiji, sweetheart are you alright?" Akaashi's mother lightly knocked on the door. Voice taking on a worried hint. "Was it dinner last night? I thought you looked pale-"

"I'm alright." His tremulous voice sounded on the other side of the door. "Dinner must not have set right." He fibbed, praying that his bull-shit answer was enough to make her go away. "Oh, well let me know if you need anything, I'll have soup on the stove before I leave." She said in a suspicious tone as she made her leave. "Thank you, Okaasan." 

The dark haired boy stared at the flowers he just nearly spilled on the bathroom floor, In a daze, his thoughts racing at the speed of light as he tried to make sense of the eventful morning. First, the eeriely vivid dream that swarmed him with a wonder that he very rarely experienced, usually reserved for high-stakes volleyball tournaments. And not to mention the invasion of a certain volleyball captain in his dreams. He wasn't sure if he had the mental energy to dissect exactly what that meant.

Only one thing at the present moment was certain. That was indeed the rudest awakening he ever had the displeasure of experiencing. He glared down the pure white rose petals as he flushed them down, those damn flowers laughing as they swirled away.

By lunchtime akaashi was exhausted. 

He ditched first and second period to scrape any information at the library on his sudden illness that he could. His findings were less than ideal, apparently his ... condition was less than common, in fact there are only 32 reported cases in Japan. The few articles he managed to obtain all seemed to point to a rare gene abnormality passed through a few unlucky families.

'Well, it's certainly not a mystery which side of the family it comes from.' Akaashi chuckled in a self-deprecating manner, more than half the books he found on the topic were outdated folklore, depicting the victim as an unfortunate soul whom was hexed by their beloved. Although the stories and poems he found were just ancient superstition, he found himself entranced, leaving the library with his fair share of books.

"Akaashiii!" "you aren't even listening!" Bokuto furrowed his brow, looking an equal mix of annoyed and worried. "And you haven't even touched your food! And I know for a fact you love these sandwiches, so spill!" 

'Damn, am I really being that obvious or is Bokuto-san reading me incredibly well today?' Akaashi mentally smacked himself, he had to get whatever this was under wraps soon or he was going to become burden. "I'm fine Bokuto-san, just tired from studying last night is all." The ace stared at his setter skeptically as he fiddled with his hands. "Ah, that reminds me Konoha-san informed me that you failed your math exam." "Akaashiiiiii!!!!"

Who could it be? When and why? The setter questioned after another bout of sickly sweet white flowers. 'How could I have gained feelings for someone and not even know?' He stared at his reflection in the boys bathroom mirror, he looked terrible. His completion as pale as the flowers that caused it. He splashed his face with cold water and made his way towards the gym.

Practice that evening was pretty uneventful. Keiji let out a sigh of relief as he exited the showers, grateful for the normalcy of his most treasured time of day.

"Oi Akaashi, let's walk home together tonight, there's this cool new arcade joint me and Kuroo found the other day, you gotta see it." Bokuto exclaimed. "Ah, I'll wait for you outside." Akaashi paused "And Bokuto-san do make sure you put on your clothes properly this time." He deadpanned. "Oi, oi, oi, it was just that one time and you know it!" Bokuto sqauwked in objection.

Akaashi smiled as the cool evening air washed over his features. The thought of being alone with the ace as he changed sent a spark of warmth to his stomach that traveled all the way to his face and knees.

He vaguely wondered when he'd become so shy around his energetic captain? 

"Let's go!!" Bokuto grabbed his arm and took off sprinting. Keiji smiled and swallowed an incoming surge of flowers. Maybe he could forget about deathly roses and beautiful dreams for the time being.


End file.
